


Digital Hole

by GlazedDounuts



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Domestic Fluff, Family Fluff, Fluff and Crack, Gen, Identity Issues, Insecurity, Internet Famous, Light Angst, Long-Distance Relationship, M/M, Modeling, Other, Romantic Fluff, Secret Relationship, Social Anxiety, Social Media, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, YouTube
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-05
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 23:53:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24544168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GlazedDounuts/pseuds/GlazedDounuts
Summary: The influential YouTuber, Baekhyun, is dominating the online world with his unfiltered and authentic content always being himself, showing both the good and bad in his life, which attracted over 5.1 million subscribers and counting.However, Baekhyun has been keeping a secret relationship from his fans for the sake of his boyfriend's privacy, but now his camera-shy boyfriend has agreed to be on camera after a year into their relationship. When Baekhyun had introduced his boyfriend to his channel, it caused a social-media uproar, because his introverted boyfriend who just happens to be the world's renowned golden-child of the fashion industry supermodel, Kai.Will the pressures of social media make or break their relationship?
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Kim Jongin | Kai, Byun Baekhyun/Oh Sehun, Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol, Do Kyungsoo | D.O/Park Chanyeol
Comments: 23
Kudos: 75





	1. Prologue - Q & A: Meet My Boyfriend

**Author's Note:**

> I had this prompt in mind since 2017, and I thought might as well post it so I can force myself to continue on. 
> 
> The first chapter was written by 2017 me so that explains the lack of writing skills is for that reason. Anything onwards is from current 2020 me lol. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this shit-show, and this is me trying to get back into my mojo of writing. 
> 
> PSA: This is fully indulgent, so don't take my lack of characterization, plot etc too seriously. I'm amusing myself here, nothing too serious on the basis of writing and progressing a story.

“Hey, guys so today-“ Baekhyun snorts his hands still in mid-air, weakly closing and opening. “That was the slowest wave-clap ever..” 

The video cuts off to play his introduction with the swift animations that his good friend, Kyungsoo, has created for him after 6 months of persistent begging. 

“Hey you guys, welcome back to my channel. it’s me Byun Baekhyun what is up?” His signature peace-sign waves cutely towards the camera. 

“And me!” Chanyeol half-yells as his head pops in the corner of the video unattractively with a grin, then disappears back behind the tripod set-up. 

“Yes and this freak, again, he’s helping me out today,” Baekhyun rolls his eyes only to get a cushion thrown his way, causing him to go out of frame with a yelp. 

The video cuts again only to return with Baekhyun smiling as he readjusts his black tee. 

“I asked you guys to send me questions and you guys actually did,” Baekhyun waves his phone in the air momentarily with raised brows.

“A lot of these questions are from Twitter, but some are from Instagram. Chanyeol actually picked them. So here is me answering your strange, awkward and inappropriate questions. Not answering the inappropriate ones, you people are nasty!” 

“Let’s get this shit rolling!” Baekhyun claps and whoops to pump-himself up. 

_[@unn.ie: positivity is a key in life how do you spread yours #Askbaek ]_

Baekhyun stares at the camera pulling out his keys, and the slightest smirk is tugging on his lips as he throws it. It misses the tripod and instead hits Chanyeol who was lounging behind the camera set up, busy with his phone. 

“Ow!” Chanyeol claimed rubbing his forearm. “What the hell?”  
“Spreading my positivity key!” 

_[@baek.hee: what happens in your wildest dreams #Askbaek ]_

“Well. I’m in the wilderness and I’m surrounded by animals…It’s pretty wild.” Baekhyun ends with a roar causing Chanyeol to snort off-camera.

_[@whitemilk: when will you stop being ugly? #Askbaek ]_

Baekhyun looks off-camera. “That one is probably for Chanyeol..”  
“Aw, come on!” Chanyeol whines in the background. 

_[ @chanbae: I ship ChanBaek, please do the boyfriend tag #Askbaek ]_

“We aren’t dating, but here is his face,” Baekhyun watches Chanyeol trip over some of the light-ring corps on the floor, quickly shoving his face towards the frame with a grin. Baekhyun swiftly pushes Chanyeol away from the camera and stables it back on the tripod properly. 

“The ChanBaek ship isn’t sailing, if anything it’s sinking if Yeol keeps on picking his nose like that.” Scrunching in disgust Baekhyun watches an off-screen Chanyeol with a finger inside of his nostril, deep. 

“Hey! No exposing-“ Chanyeol was cut off abruptly.

“He’s digging deep like he’s looking for gold!” Baekhyun crackles but his smile doesn’t last long because suddenly entering the frame is a water bottle launched by Chanyeol and aimed at Baekhyun. The attack was successful but the defense was not. 

_[ @chenrous: are you a top or a bottom? #Askbaek ]_

Waving his signature peace sign on both hands, he answers cheekily. “Sideways.” 

The one-word answer causing utter hysteria between the two boys; Chanyeol tries to calm down his laughter as he holds onto his stomach with one hand. “Breaking the 4th wall, BOOM!” 

_[ @sehunsanus: why don’t you do a dance cover with Sehunnie? #Askbaek ]_

“Because I don’t want to outshine my little brother,” Baekhyun opens up the water bottle that has been thrown at him earlier. “I’m so flexible like…like water! Yeah!” 

Chanyeol pausing on his internet browsing behind the camera stares at him unimpressed. “Wow. Are you being serious right now? Why are you lying to your fans like that?” 

Baekhyun scoffs, glaring at Chanyeol who raises a brow and opens his mouth wide to vocalize his opinion on the matter. “He is so shit, that’s why!” 

“Hater! You are not allowed to talk,” Baekhyun begins scrolling through some questions on social media. “you aren’t even supposed to be interrupting me!” 

_[@baehyuuuuuun: what’s your favorite ice-cream flavor? #Askbaek ]_

Chanyeol stifles back a laugh as he shouts off-screen. “Dick!” 

Baekhyun literally growls and stands up from his setting which was his grey couch, and leaps onto Chanyeol trying to harm the other. Due to the sudden scuffle, their limbs kept knocking over the lights and most importantly the tripod that held onto the camera. 

The viewers could only see Chanyeol trying to dodge Baekhyun’s slaps and verbal attack upside-down. The clip suddenly cuts, only to appear with a notice. 

=|| THE PROGRAM WILL RESUME SOON ||=

The screen switches back to Baekhyun who’s brown locks seem fluffed and disheveled as he tries to smooth down his shirt, with a soft groan in the background from Chanyeol, looking at the camera with a smile. “I actually like red velvet.” 

_[ @byunohmy: SHOW US YOUR BOYFRIEND, I ONLY SAW HIS BACK FOR 4 SECONDS AND I AM OBSESSED ALREADY! #Askbaek ]_

“And you should be thankful for those 4 seconds.” Baekhyun taps on his phone with a nod and pressed lips. 

_[ @sunbathnim: cringest pick-up line you used? #Askbaek ]_

“Don’t attack me in the comment section but I will say first and foremost I do regret that I have said it, but in my defense I actually got laid that night. I don’t know if it was the pick-up line or my amazing face-“ 

“Because it sure as hell isn’t your personality.” Chanyeol hollers behind the camera as he zooms in slightly into Baekhyun’s left nostril as Baekhyun’s glare directed at him. 

“Okay, I’ll pretend I’m flirting with Yeol,” Baekhyun explained, running his hand through his hair. “Hey did you just fart?” 

Chanyeol now seated next to Baekhyun for the sketch in an oversized red hoodie, raised a brow in confusion and looked at the camera for a moment before replying with a simple “No.” 

“Because your ass just blew me away.” 

“I am terminating this friendship immediately,” Chanyeol groans throwing his head back in second-hand embarrassment. “And you actually got laid?”

“Stop judging me,” Baekhyun whined burying his face in his hands, then he shot up like a deer in headlights. “If it was so bad tell us,” Baekhyun points at the camera. “your smoothest pickup line.”

Chanyeol rolls his shoulder back feeling confident, he faces the camera with a smirk but he doesn’t see Baekhyun make a cutting motion with his fingers. 

“I’m walking in the bar and I see a hottie,” Chanyeol grins at the thought. “so I’m looking nice and everything and I walk over and say-“ 

The video cuts off and jumps into the next scene where Baekhyun is back alone on his beloved grey couch reading out the next question from Instagram. 

_[ @yeol.talk: who’s the guy in the background with the navy sweater from your last video? Is he your boyfriend? #Askbaek ]_

“A ghost probably,” Baekhyun shrugs throwing his phone to the side. “I get a lot of bad luck because of Chanyeol.” 

“Excuse me?” Chanyeol’s voice can be heard in the background while Baekhyun smiles cheekily at the reaction, making eye-contact with the camera and winks. 

“He has a lot of bad spirits around him, because of that I think they got bored with his shit and starting coming around me,” Baekhyun explained trying to not break out into a grin. 

“What the actual fuck Baek-“ before Chanyeol could finish Baekhyun cut him off sharply. 

“I asked this card-reader! I asked her! She legit confirmed it, don’t fucking lie!” Chanyeol who was out of the frame, blinked rapidly obviously taken back by the lie since he knew who the navy sweater dude was. 

“I almost got hit by a car because of you and your stupid ghosts following me!” 

“You crossed on a green light!” Chanyeol informed in outrage, grabbing onto the camera turning it around to face him, but before he could say a word, the camera is snatched away from his hands by the Youtuber. 

__[@sehuction: Sehun is so hot. #Askbaek ]_ _

“THAT IS NOT A QUESTION YOUNG LADY!” Baekhyun yelled at the top of his lungs, mushing his face with the camera as he cradles it. 

“But that is a fact!” Chanyeol stated as Baekhyun pulls himself away from the camera enough to show his rolling eyeballs. 

__[ @parkswifey: are you single? #Askbaek ]_ _

Baekhyun quirked a brow upwards, with Chanyeol zooming into Baekhyun’s pink lips, slowly zooming out again. “Why you wanna date? follow me on twitter @ByunBaekhyunOfficial.” 

Baekhyun winks at the camera, jump-cutting to the next question. 

__[ @itzurbae.khyun: why are you being greedy @ByunBaekhyunOfficial show us your boyfriend #AskBaek ]_ _

Baekhyun laughs out loud after reading the comment. He shrugs and begins to crawl towards the camera, as he approaches the device his crosses his eyes and sticks out his tongue but he doesn’t stop until he is out of frame. 

“Hurry up you sloth,” Baekhyun whines off-screen, as the audience practically shrieks in excitement. 

Baekhyun sits back in his designated spot on the grey furniture, as long legs in skinny jeans come in view in the corner, but as soon as the male sits down next to Baekhyun lazily with a fist in the air. “Don’t do drugs kids!” 

“This man-child is my friend, who also happens to be a boy,” Chanyeol flashes his teeth fully, causing his eyes to turn into half-moons. “sharing is caring right?” 

Baekhyun sticks out his tongue at the camera with a mischievous aura. “Yeol get out of this video, you’ve had enough screen-time.” 

The video is edited to the outro with Baekhyun signing off from the 4:37 video with a wave and acknowledgment for his fans part-take in the video. Instead of the channel’s traditional cartoon animation bidding goodbye to the viewers, the screen zapped out into an unedited moment. 

There sat Baekhyun readjusting the camera giving them unintentionally a close up of the side of his face, as he backs out after fixing the lighting it became clear that; a) he's located on the floor. b) he was seated in someone’s lap. c) the mystery man’s head has been cut off, only showing his body from the neck down. d) mystery man is actually shirtless. 

“Because of your endless support and love, you made this channel reach 4.9 million subscribers, which is insane! You are more than my fans, you’re my family! I am so thankful for each and every one of you! ” Baekhyun chats with evident glee in his voice and a twinkle in his eyes. 

“So as a treat for you guys since you have been asking endlessly for these past few months,” Baekhyun leans back into the bare-chested male he is sitting on and intertwines their fingers together lifting them to show the camera. “This is my boyfriend, who wishes to not be identified yet, because he's camera shy, so we will call him a bear.” 

'Bear' snorted but said nothing, placing his palms on Baekhyun’s waist slowly roaming under his shirt, with Baekhyun jerking away in laughter. “Stop it! Could you at least greet my fans-“ Baekhyun’s blissful laughter filled the room. 

“I didn’t agree to any of this,” Chanyeol shouted behind the camera where he was lounging on the infamous grey couch Baekhyun films at constantly. “It’s burning my eyes, and hurting my ears!” 

“I swear to god, stop!” Baekhyun gasped, holding his boyfriend’s hands firmly to stop the tickling. “Okay, this video is long enough as it is, god knows how long the bloopers will be, so just say hello to my viewers and we can go back to cuddling.” 

Baekhyun's boyfriend's face was still cropped from the frame due to his own wishes to remain private, waved to the camera letting his hands be controlled over Baekhyun who was currently playing with them. 

“Hello, uhm..stay happy? and thanks for making Baek happy.” He had that rich, silky tone. 

Baekhyun tried to suppress his smile, looking up at his boyfriend. “Aren’t you being cheesy?” 

“Baaeek!” He whined covering his face into the back of Baekhyun’s neck, his bare biceps wrapped around his boyfriend’s shoulders lazily into a back-hug. 

And then the video cuts, only to return with Baekhyun on his own, grinning into the camera. "I know you guys are greedy for more, but until Bear is comfortable with being in front of the camera more, which is ironic because of his line of work," Baekhyun raises his brows at the thought, and laughs. "Was that a hint? Anyway, I won't force him into doing something uncomfortable. I hope you respect our wishes and wait until we're ready to show our relationship instead of being exposed. I've shared my whole life since I was 16, my love life is the only thing I have left to keep private for myself. Please respect that, I'm not asking for much. So, yeah. Love you guys, see you in the next video!" 

With that final bid, the video resumed showing the bloopers and outtakes from earlier one. 


	2. Aftermath - Q&A

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2K 
> 
> I know this is terrible, but I'm pressed on other writing projects and I'm starting my summer courses in a week or so, and with these times I'm praying they don't overwork us as compensation for not being physically present. 
> 
> \+ I wanted to give you'll some background info (I know this is shit, but I need to get out of my writing runt honestly.)
> 
> PSA: This is fully indulgent, so don't take my lack of characterization, plot etc too seriously. I'm amusing myself here, nothing too serious on the basis of writing and progressing a story.

After Baekhyun’s mischievous Q&A video, it didn’t take long for fans to turn into undercover detectives digging into the YouTuber’s personal life trying to piece together the small hints here and there, going as far as tracking his family and friend’s privacy to unleash the truth of who his boyfriend is. It took approximately 4 days for the truth to be uncovered, which was impressive since they’ve been very careful about getting caught. But then again, Baekhyun’s boyfriend just happens to be the top supermodel of the fashion industry, Kai. Or Jongin when he’s off duty. 

It was a social media frenzy from then on, but Baekhyun was good with pressure he thrived on it. He didn’t care for hate comments, to him it was like water off a duck’s back but he can’t say the same about Jongin. 

“Do you want _Earl Grey_ or _Chamomile_ ?” Baekhyun calls out to his boyfriend from the kitchen, already placing in both mugs chamomile tea bags and carries them into his living room. 

“Chamomile plea—oh.” Jongin blinks at the mug in front of him, his lips curving into a smile as he takes it. “Why do you insist on asking me if you know what I’m going to say?”

Baekhyun takes his seat beside Jongin on the couch, setting down the steaming mug on the coffee table. He glances at Jongin ready to reply cheekily but his smile fades once he sees Jongin’s eyes glued to his phone screen with furrowed brows. 

“Why do you keep reading them?” Baekhyun asks, frustration slowly seeping into his bloodstream. He hated anything that could potentially hurt Jongin, he wasn’t one to hold his tongue and he was about to go on social media a few hours ago after the news of them broke in but Jongin told him not to, it isn’t worth it. 

Startled, Jongin fumbles with his phone only for it fall between them. “I’m not. It’s just an article on, erm, art theory.”

“Liar!” Baekhyun tuts, snatching the phone before Jongin could touch it his frustration bubbling into anger and distress. 

Jongin was reading the comments on his latest Instagram post, and the comments were on a whole different level of quantity than Baekhyun’s. After all, Jongin had an impressive following of over 52.7 million followers, a big comparison to Baekhyun’s 8.1 million followers. 

_@xxx: Manwhore!  
@xxx: It’s so fake, do you think we appreciate this publicity stunt as your fans, Kai? We give you our money and this is how you repay us?  
@xxx: Baekhyun is using you for clout, how can you not see that? Don’t be dumb.  
@xxx: UGLY!  
@xxx: Stay strong! ❤️❤️  
@xxx: Attention starved bitch, always using people to stay relevant! Our Baekhyunnie doesn’t deserve you.  
@xxx: He isn’t even that good-looking, what a rat.  
@xxx: obviously a pr stunt.  
@xxx: How did Baekhyun persuade you into pretending? Sex or money?  
@xxx: I don’t get what all the hype is about, he’s always tries to use people. Nothing new!  
@xxx: You don’t deserve anything. _

Between every 10 hate comments, there was one supportive one, and Baekhyun wonders if Jongin can even see them among the sea of hate. 

“I knew we shouldn’t have done it.” Baekhyun sighs, lowering the phone. 

When Baekhyun was discussing the questions he’ll use with Chanyeol for his video, Jongin’s mystery kept coming up and Baekhyun was telling Chanyeol to ignore all questions in regards to his relationship status even if it meant the flow of the video could be a little off. Jongin who was present told Baekhyun he wanted to go public because they weren’t doing anything wrong. Baekhyun kept asking Jongin over and over again before and after filming if he truly wanted to make their relationship public, and he could always edit it out but Jongin insisted. 

“I wanted to,” Jongin’s gaze held determination, as he gifts his boyfriend with a quick peck of reassurance. “I don’t want us to keep hiding.” 

Baekhyun’s frown doesn’t disappear, instead, he’s trying to come up with other possible solutions. He might have underestimated how much hate they’ll get. It’ll affect their careers, more so Jongin, since he’s in such a sensitive and crucial period in his profession and Baekhyun, doesn’t want to harm it. 

“We could just lie and say it was a joke or something.”

Jongin shakes his head immediately, a pout on his lips, and Baekhyun just wants to kiss him at the sight. “I-I’ll stay off socials for a little while, okay? I’m just overthinking, you know me. They’ll move onto the next big thing by tomorrow isn’t that what you said?” 

“I don’t want you to get into a bad headspace again because last time—“

“I won’t.” Jongin insists, already climbing onto Baekhyun’s lap ready for the conversation to be over. 

Jongin grew up in the glaring spotlight, never having a normal childhood. His parents were harsh, cold, and distant, often treating him like an employee since the tender age of 3 instead of a son. They trained him ruthlessly into becoming a dance prodigy, punishing him if he’d pass out of exhaustion through one of his daily training sessions because he wasn’t allowed a break yet. He was a rising dancing prodigy but then something inside of Jongin snapped, and he could no longer endure the pressure and exploitation any longer and smashed his own knee-cap with his father’s golf club at 15. Which ended all opportunities of him dancing professionally ever again, thinking he’s freed himself but his mother immediately pushed him into child-modeling and it only took a year or so for his career to launch like a blazing fire. Before he knew it, Jongin became a force to be reckoned in the fashion world, climbing the ranks with ease and then at the ripe age of 20 he was crowned as the worldwide renowned golden boy of fashion. 

Jongin used to struggle a lot with mental health, and his work environment wasn’t the most healthy since he was constantly judged. He wished he was one of those people that didn’t care about judgment but he’s never been able to have thick-skin. However, Jongin is better now, he can control himself better now. 

“I won’t, I promise,” Jongin repeats, holding Baekhyun’s eye-contact. 

Baekhyun tries to detect any lies in Jongin’s tone, unsure if his boyfriend is just telling him this to make him feel better or if he wants to shut him up. Jongin rolls his eyes at his boyfriend’s antics and pushing Baekhyun on his back, caging him around his arms which earns Jongin a snort. 

“Well, that’s a persuasive tactic.” Baekhyun tuts in a playful manner, their lips brushing.

Jongin’s cheeks tint in rose at the comment but doesn’t hesitate to kiss Baekhyun lightly before pulling back to say his final piece. 

“I just didn’t expect people to bash you so much for no reason, including my fans…I’m sorry.” 

Baekhyun’s gaze softens at Jongin’s words, because Jongin is overly-critical of himself constantly and how he blatantly brushes off all of the terrible comments made about him, and focuses on the one’s against Baekhyun made his heart tighten.

“When did I care about what others thought of me? I only care about the options of important people in my life,” Baekhyun winked planting a kiss on Jongin’s nose, causing the latter to laugh. “Like you.”

“I don’t regret it…” Jongin hums, carding his fingers through Baekhyun’s hair. 

“Yeah?” Baekhyun breathes, holding onto Jongin’s chin guiding his lips near him. 

“It’s like a weight off my chest, no more hiding,” Jongin says amidst the kiss feeling Baekhyun’s grin against his lips. 

They kiss lazily, no rush, just the pleasure of touching and pulling each other close. Jongin’s hands slip under Baekhyun’s shirt and around his back, his fingers drumming around the line of his spine. Baekhyun wraps his arm around Jongin’s neck, holding him closer as he runs his hands through his soft hair giving the occasional tug. 

“Are you fucking on my Nappa leather couch? Even _I_ don’t fuck on my Nappa leather couch!” 

Chanyeol’s voice is like an alarm, shrill and sudden causing the couple to flinch apart, their foreheads bumping together. 

“I went to pick up the Chinese food since they don’t deliver and this is what I come back too?” Chanyeol yaps in outrage, walking over to the pair as he places the takeout bags on the coffee table, missing the cold mugs by an inch. 

“We weren’t having sex!” Jongin says hastily with a hot blush soaring on his cheeks and he looked so cute that Baekhyun can’t help but be mischievous and jump on Jongin pushing him down, switching positions for a moment and Jongin’s eyes widen at the action unconsciously holding Baekhyun’s hips to stop him from slipping. 

“Hey!” 

Chanyeol’s warning goes through deaf ears, and he decides then and there that, leaping into the pair causing the cuddle to turn into a dog pile tackling them away from each other, was the best possible way to gain attention. And pain. 

“Get off me, you big oaf!” Baekhyun grunts trying to push his best friend away but Chanyeol was bigger.

Chanyeol wraps his arms around both Baekhyun and Jongin into headlocks grinning at the squirms and groans coming out of them. 

“Channie, please,” Jongin grunted, feeling the grip loosen then all at once let go of them. 

“I’m only being nice because Jongin is here.” Chanyeol poked Baekhyun’s forehead, but the YouTuber retaliated immediately giving him a swift kick to his behind. “Ya!” 

Jongin can only laugh at the rough-housing of the friends, watching Chanyeol jump on Baekhyun ready to knock the wind out of him but Baekhyun wasn’t backing down because he grabs a handful of the latter’s hair tugging and Chanyeol retaliated instantly.

“Let go!”  
“You let go first!” 

Park Chanyeol has been best friends with Baekhyun since middle school, so it was natural that the pair know practically everything about one another, and were tighter than blood. While Baekhyun had no desire to complete any higher education focusing on growing his YouTube channel instead, Chanyeol went to college studying to become a kindergarten teacher, and he was great at it. He loved children, they were like baby aliens that Chanyeol had to assimilate to the world and it was such a rewarding experience for him. A lot of his friends were surprised that he turned into a kindergarten teacher instead of going into music, but Chanyeol told them there is always time for everything and nobody could really refute with that. When Baekhyun’s popularity started to soar, he’d need help from Chanyeol and the latter didn’t mind lending a hand in the background or what-not. 

“Let’s eat before the food gets cold,” Jongin calls out to the wrestling pair, unpacking the food onto the coffee table after clearing it. 

The scuffle behind him as Jongin sits down on the ground subdues instantly, and within seconds he gets squashed between Chanyeol and Baekhyun. 

“Pass the spring rolls,” Chanyeol orders, as the container gets passed from Baekhyun to Jongin to him. “So, is there any death threats yet?” 

Baekhyun snorts, knocking Chanyeol’s head before leaning back against his boyfriend. He knows how tense Jongin, so he kisses his shoulder in an act of comfort. 

“When did they ever stop?” Baekhyun laughed. 

With a mouthful and a few flying crumbs on Jongin, Chanyeol confesses with an air of jest. “I’m surprised you aren’t dead yet.” 

“I’m just thankful I have you all in my life,” Jongin says quietly, his gaze on the food at hand. “I know I’ve put you all in a tough position now, Kyungsoo and Sehun too, and I’m sorry.” 

Chanyeol’s smile softens before knocking his shoulder against Jongin’s. 

“Fuck everybody, man.” 

Baekhyun’s laugh is loud and bubbly, nodding his head. “Fuck everybody.” 

Jongin’s lips curl upwards shyly, as his eyes dart between Chanyeol and Baekhyun. “Fuck everybody.” 

Chanyeol and Baekhyun cheer him on, as the trio fall into dissolved silly laughter. Regardless of the outcome, the friendship group has each other and they were tight. Nothing was getting in their way. 

“You owe me dinner for a month straight after what I saw Byun!” Chanyeol threatens, holding onto a dim sum. 

Baekhyun swipes the dim sum into his mouth as a response. “We didn’t fuck!”


	3. Chaotic Mukbang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3K chapter ♥ 
> 
> I hope you enjoy the chaos of this, I wanted to write something light-hearted and fun and show the group's dynamics more. 
> 
> \+ I want to thank every single one of you who took the time to not only read but to comment as well. It makes me so freaking happy to be able to share my writing and get feedback from it. ʕ•́ᴥ•̀ʔっ ♡
> 
> PSA: This is fully indulgent, so don't take my lack of characterization, plot etc too seriously. I'm amusing myself here, nothing too serious on the basis of writing and progressing a story.

“Stop taking my food, Sehun!” Baekhyun screeched, hitting his younger brother on the head. 

“We ordered the same thing!” 

The camera positioned on the edge of the long oak coffee-table shakes at the sudden action of aggression. The 5-member friend group was currently sitting on the floor of Baekhyun’s living room squashed around the coffee table with large quantities of food scattered across in front of them. 

“Wait, did they not bring my milkshake?” Kyungsoo said quietly, causing everyone to freeze. 

The video cuts off to play Baekhyun’s animated introduction that Kyungsoo created for him. The video zaps into focus at the 5 friends; some waving and others distracted. 

“Hey you guys, welcome back to my channel. it’s me, Byun Baekhyun. What is up?” Baekhyun poses with his signature peace-sign. “As you can see I am not alone today—“

“Pass the sauces.” Sehun talks over his older brother unbothered, stretching his hand out to Chanyeol who’s currently rummaging through the paper bags filled with food. 

Baekhyun side-eyes Sehun, before clapping to gain everybody’s attention. “Anyway, before I was rudely interrupted,” 

“We’re doing a two-in-one video, we’re going to do a mukbang and we’re going to answer your assumptions about me since I’m such a narcissist. I posted it like two hours ago and you guys flooded the hashtag #BaekhyunAssumptions.”

“I wanted to call it a sausage party.” Chanyeol butted in, winking at the camera and then unleashing a finger gun.

“Can I get my water please?” Jongin requests.

“You didn’t introduce us,” Kyungsoo pointed at the camera, re-adjusting his glasses.  
“Well, if you would let me—“

The camera zooms in on Baekhyun’s stoic face his nostrils flaring before cutting back to its original frameset, but with the food now getting distributed. 

“Everybody introduce yourselves, start from the left.” Baekhyun sighs waving his hands at everybody, giving up on having a proper and clear explanation. 

“But they already know us,” Sehun complained, holding onto the straws. 

“Sehun!” 

“Fine, fine!” Sehun tutted, turning to the camera and smiled prettily as if he hasn’t been irritating his older brother a few seconds ago. “I’m Sehun, Baekhyun’s favourite brother.”

“You’re my only brother.”  
“And by process of elimination, results in me being the favourite.” 

The group crackles, Chanyeol shaking Jongin’s side erupting in laughter. “Process of elimination? Shit, Sehun knows big words now. We got a scholar over here!” 

Baekhyun’s lips stretch into a smile at the teasing. “A vocabularist!” 

Sehun throws at both Baekhyun and Chanyeol the straws in a weak attempt, yet he can’t help but giggle. “Next! Next!” 

“Hello. I’m Do Kyungsoo.” With a firm nod, and another re-adjustment of his eye-glasses. A very Kyungsoo-like fashion. 

“It’s my channel, they know me,” Baekhyun snorts, he turns to the next person who just happens to be his boyfriend. He gives him a reassuring pat on his leg. “Just say your name, Bear.” 

“As if they don’t know his name, he’s the most famous one on here.” Chanyeol joked high-fiving Sehun who is on the other end of the table. 

Jongin has been a little nervous with filming a whole video, it was a totally new zone for him and he’s glad his second time on Baekhyun’s channel is with the rest of the group. It lessened the tension for him, after all, they all seemed natural. 

“Hey, I’m Jongin—“ 

Sehun and Chanyeol erupt into cheers and applause chanting Jongin’s stage name, ‘Kai’, repeatedly. Jongin smiles shyly at the undivided attention, covering his face with Baekhyun’s shoulder for a moment before peeking out. 

“And I’m,” Chanyeol makes a dramatic pause but the camera slowly zooms in to Baekhyun’s mischievous face, as he raises a hand doing a cutting gesture. “Ch—“

The video cuts off and jumps into the next scene where the food is all spread out in front of them, already consuming the burgers and fries. 

“Wait, you ordered a lettuce-wrap burger instead of the regular?” Sehun gaped, peering at Jongin with wide eyes. 

Jongin nods his head. “It lessens the guilt of eating junk…”

Sehun leans back with his lips parted in shock. “Woah. Imagine not eating bread. A life without the enjoyment of bread.” 

Baekhyun tosses at his brother a flimsy French-fry. “Nothing wrong with wanting to keep in shape!” 

“Is today your cheat-day?” Kyungsoo asks with an air of nonchalantness, his eyes glued to his open burger as he pours the special sauce on the patty.

“Yeah. I got an audition tomorrow,” Jongin explains, glancing at Baekhyun with evident apprehension but his boyfriend gives him a reassuring smile. “I don’t like eating salty food the day before…but I didn’t know we’re getting burgers.” 

“Oooh! Kim Kai is booked and busy!” Sehun hollered with jest, drumming the table causing the camera to shake. 

“Clickbait!” 

“Leave my boyfriend alone, and make yourselves useful by going through the hashtag ” Baekhyun warned lazily, pulling out his phone from his pocket, welcoming a fry into his mouth by Jongin. “Alright! Let’s start.”

“Is this going to be 10 minutes of Sehun annoying Baekhyun,” Chanyeol comments casually.

Sehun snickers, waving his hand. “With Jongin in the frame? Fuck that, it’s going to be Jongin giving Baekhyun clout for 10 minutes.”

Kyungsoo freezes, glancing back and forth between the camera and the group in confusion. “We haven’t started yet?” 

Chanyeol stares at the camera mimicking Kyungsoo’s face. “Cut the cameras. Deadass.” 

Jongin snorts at Chanyeol’s silly antics and that only encourages Chanyeol’s behaviour for him to lean forward grabbing the camera pretending to turn it off. The viewers can hear Baekhyun’s scolding at the other members with Kyungsoo asking repeatedly if the camera was broken falling on deaf ears. 

The video zaps out into a new frame, where everybody tamed and Baekhyun finally speaks. 

“The first—“  
Sehun smirks, knowing exactly how to push his brother’s buttons and cuts him off. “You’re going to be editing so much.”

Baekhyun growls and reaches over Kyungsoo’s lap and grabs a fist full of Sehun’s blond hair and suddenly it’s a frenzy. Jongin yelps at the sight, trying to break up the sudden hair-pulling fight between the brothers on Kyungsoo’s lap, while Chanyeol grabs the camera again. “Cut the cameras. Deadass.”

Kyungsoo raises his fist ready to hit both siblings on their heads, but Sehun maneuvers himself onto both Kyungsoo and Baekhyun, using his long limbs to his advantage. But it only lasted a moment as the trio topple over at the imbalance. 

“A little help would be nice, Channie!” Jongin shouts looking for the lanky man seated beside him but Chanyeol was no longer there. 

The camera view of the 5 individuals is no longer clear, the viewers watch with determination at the blurry and quick movements of the camera change trying to spot what is happening with the scuffle. What they didn’t expect was to see a close-up of Jongin’s side profile, with Chanyeol zooming in on the model’s jaw. 

With Chanyeol suddenly taking lead of the videography. “Mr.Kim who are you betting on to win?”

“What? Channie!” Jongin swipes the camera way from him, and Chanyeol takes a step back and the viewers are able to see Jongin trying to loosen the iron-like grip of Baekhyun on Sehun’s hair. 

The clips suddenly cuts, with a black and white text: _[1 HOUR LATER]_

The viewers watch in amusement as all 5 friends were seated back into their original positions. Kyungsoo seemed unharmed and emotionless staring ahead at the camera like a robot waiting for further instructions, while Sehun sulked beside him trying to tidy up his tangled hair. Jongin had a Baekhyun on his lap, with an arm wrapped securely around his waist to restrain him from pouncing on Sehun again. Chanyeol propped an elbow on the table, watching the others in curiosity as if a fight hadn’t broken out. 

“Well,” Chanyeol began picking up his untouched burger. “I’m glad I don’t have siblings. Right, Jongin?” 

Jongin props his chin on Baekhyun’s shoulder, who is looking through the assumptions. “I have 3 older brothers actually..” 

[ **@sayhun:** _You’re a big drinker._ ]

“Baekhyun is terrible at tolerating alcohol.” Kyungsoo exposes instantly, taking a bite of his burger. 

Sehun wraps an arm lazily around Kyungsoo’s shoulder, opening his mouth to steal a bite and Kyungsoo feeds it to him willingly.

“Aren’t all of us bad at drinking?” Sehun corrects with a mouthful, grabbing his sauce dip. 

Chanyeol nods his head, wiping some sauce from the corner of his mouth. “We’re all bad at drinking, about two bottles I’d say? Before we all get shit-drunk.”

Baekhyun holds his own drink for Jongin to drink, before taking a sip himself. 

“Yeah, I definitely not a big drinker. Sorry to burst your bubble of thinking I’m so cool guy who can hold his liquor.” Baekhyun smiled, eating a nugget whole. 

“Real assumption should be about if you’re a naked drunk.” Chanyeol grinned clapping his hands at the memories. Chanyeol faces the camera with a smirk. “Baek will use alcohol as an excuse to get in touch with his inner exhibitionist!” 

Kyungsoo and Sehun curl up together filling the room with laughter, as Baekhyun tries to debunk the truth. 

“Don’t! I-I just get hot really quickly!” 

Jongin shakes his head with a smile, kissing Baekhyun’s nape. “He just takes off his pants.”

“Bear!” Baekhyun shouts, his face hot with betrayal as everybody dissolves in laughter. “You’re not any better!”

Jongin quirks a brow upwards at the surprise attack. “I’m not a bad drunk!” 

“You’re a touchy-feely drunk,” Sehun pats Jongin’s shoulder in an act of sympathy, locking eyes with the camera. “Jonginnie is like someone who just did a bunch of pills and he’ll be handsy and clingy with everybody.” 

Jongin’s cheeks turn crimson, and he can’t help but hide his face behind Baekhyun trying to keep some of his image. “You’re not any better, Sehunnie! You tried to fight that guy because he was taking too many complimentary peanuts.”

“Yeah!” Baekhyun bursts out laughing at the memory. “Kyungsoo is the best one out of all of us, though. He is a professional drunk, he has no symptoms!” 

Chanyeol snorts. “In other words, an alcoholic—Ow! Ow! I’m kidding!” 

“Yes, well, let’s throw Chanyeol under the bus,” Kyungsoo commands pointing a soggy fry in his direction. “Chanyeol is the sentimental drunk.” 

“Yess!”  
“The worst!”  
“Exactly.” 

Chanyeol opens his mouth in betrayal. “Nothing wrong with being emotional sometimes!” 

Sehun scoffs in disbelief. “Don’t even try to lie! He spends all night, telling everyone how much he loves them and starts to, erm, like reminiscing about old times—“

“—Both real and imagined!” Baekhyun adds.

“Yeah, yeah! And then he starts to cry! How we don’t hang out enough like in the old days!” Sehun finishes, getting an approval thumbs-up from Kyungsoo and a whine from Chanyeol. 

“Next question!” Chanyeol yells. 

And instead of the video flashing into another cut, it shows a horizontal video, most likely taken by phone is shown on the screen causing the views to lean in confused. There was Chanyeol laying down on Baekhyun’s infamous grey couch crying calling Kyungsoo a treasure to this nation, and holding onto Kyungsoo’s wrist preventing the latter from walking away. 

[ **@yeolda:** _You think of Chanyeol as more than a friend._ ]

Jongin fakes hurt, holding onto his chest with a pout. “Is that true, Baekhyun?” 

Baekhyun leans back against Jongin’s chest and nods his head as seriously as he can. “I mean, yeah I sometimes think of Chanyeol as more than a friend—”

“A best friend,” Chanyeol confirms winking at the camera.  
“A pet.” 

Sehun covers his mouth to not spit out his food, taken back by the witty remark. 

[ **@byunbaekcutie04** _You swallow, never spit._ ]

Jongin’s face pales by the assumption. The press is going to have a field day with this, and he can help but close his eyes wanting nothing more than to turn invisible because he knows for sure that his cheeks are tinted with a growing blush. 

“Look at Jongin’s face!” Sehun calls out instantly, leaning against Kyungsoo in laughter. 

The viewers focus on Baekhyun tilting his head back to look at his boyfriend properly with a knowing smile but before anybody could say anything Kyungsoo surprises them all. 

“I, personally swallow. You already sucked, might as well get the job done.” 

Chanyeol stands up from his seat, getting out of frame as he leaps on top of Kyungsoo dying of laughter, shaking the bald man’s shoulders while Jongin, Baekhyun, and Sehun all stare in shock. 

“These are about Baekhyun!” Sehun crackles, choking on his milkshake. “Well shit, ‘get the job done’, who would’ve thought!” 

[ **@sebooty** _You’re actually nice to Sehun off-camera._ ]

Sehun sits upon his knees, shaking his hands frantically. “He is such a mean brother! All my life, he’s been nothing but horrible! Your assumption is a hundred percent correct—You can’t hit me!” 

Baekhyun was already half-way reaching over to smack Sehun, but Jongin holds him back firmly on his lap, not wanting another fight to occur. “I swear to God,” 

Baekhyun closes his eyes for a moment trying to calm himself, turning to the camera with an annoyed expression. “Do you blame me? When he is such a little shit.”

Kyungsoo nods in agreement, and the video rewinds the motion zooming in onto Kyungsoo’s silent support. Chanyeol shoves a handful of Jongin’s fries into his mouth, before adding his own input.

“Baekhyun can control himself really well, but with Sehun he’s like ready to kill.” 

Jongin swipes away some of the half-eaten fries that flew on his cheek courtesy of Chanyeol’s open-mouth eating. “It’s a sibling thing. One minute they’re fighting, the next they have each other’s back.” 

Sehun and Baekhyun cringe at the statement, but deep down they knew it was true.

“I’ll tell you a story, and you guys can be the judges if Baekhyun is mean to me or not,” Sehun explains to the camera as if waiting for the viewers to nod their heads. 

“Go on then.” Kyungsoo encouraged, his curiosity getting the better of him. 

“When I first got my silver 100K plaque, I was so excited, because I didn’t think my dance videos would get that much recognition,” Sehun began glancing a Baekhyun’s squinted eyes as if trying to recall the incident. “So, I called Baekhyun and was like ‘guess what I have?’,”

Baekhyun’s eyes double remembering the conversation clear as day, he covers his hand with his mouth laughing aloud partly out of being called out and partly out of pure embarrassment. “It wasn’t one of my finest moments…” 

“What did he say?” Jongin asked, invested in the story. 

“When I told him ‘guess what I have’, he literally said without missing a beat, ‘diabetes?’” 

Chanyeol falls on Jongin and Baekhyun, slapping Jongin’s back in a fit of laughter unable to breathe. Kyungsoo tries to control his face into a neutral expression but the viewers can clearly see he’s fighting back a wide grin. 

“And I was so taken back, so I just said ‘no, I have the 100k plaque’. And he was like ‘oh.’ I didn’t know what to say so I hung up.” Sehun snorts, tossing a wrapper at Baekhyun who catches it with a grin. 

[ **@b.baekmongie:** _You stalk fan accounts._ ]

Baekhyun confirms with a firm nod. “Yeah I do, it’s super fun for me to see the edits and stuff! But it’s also like a cool way to find out what everyone is talking about.” 

“Wow sweetie, you’re so brave.” Sehun hums in a condescending tone battering his eyelashes. 

Chanyeol rests his head on Jongin’s shoulder only to have Baekhyun push him away from his boyfriend possessively. “I didn’t even realize until like a few months back actually, I have fan-accounts.” 

“They make edits of you and stuff? But you’re not like a social media person.” Kyungsoo exclaims turning to Sehun to confirm. 

“They make edits of everyone, you too Kyungsoo.” Sehun grins at Kyungsoo’s stilled body knowing the latter is probably malfunctioning. “Only me, Baek and Jongin are like the ones with a social presence in the sense of like social media and YouTube. Me with dancing, Baek and his vlogs and well, of course, Jongin being the number one model.” 

“I am not the number one model!” Jongin whines throwing his head back exasperated. 

Chanyeol pulls out his phone immediately, going on the google search engine. “Let me see!”  
“I’m not!” 

“But I work in a video-gaming company,” Kyungsoo says to himself, scrunches his nose in confusion turning to the camera. “I am a normal person, you guys better not have any expectations of me.” 

Sehun slow-claps. “A humble man.” 

“Jongin you’re the 4th most wanted model of 2020.” 

“I told you! Wait, 4th?” Jongin can’t help but beam at the title. “I’ll work harder for my fans, thank you, guys.”

Sehun throws at him Kyungsoo’s uneaten pickles. “Yeol check his net worth!”  
“Already on it! Holy shit, 20 million.” 

“Oh wow, look at me securing the bag.” Baekhyun wiggles his brows suggestively, winking at the camera with a serious face before smiling jokily. 

“That can’t possibly be—“ Jongin stops talking unable to hold back his soft laughter at his friends chanting his name in an obnoxiously loud manner like wild hyenas. Kyungsoo starts to drum his palms on the table, a make-shift drum, letting Chanyeol, Sehun, and Baekhyun yell at the top of their lungs Jongin’s name like some war call. 

The screen turns black for a moment before returning to reveal all five friends lounging, stuffed by all the food. Baekhyun smiled warmly at the camera, making the fans swoon at the genuine affection. 

“I was supposed to answer more assumptions, but with these guys around nothing is going to go to plan.” Baekhyun chuckles, gesturing to everybody with a playful grin. “I hope you guys enjoyed, this mess of a video. Until next time, you weirdos!” 

“Bye!” Jongin, Sehun, Kyungsoo, and Chanyeol collectively chorus, waving at the camera.


	4. walking in Han River *we got spotted lol*

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 8.5K ♥
> 
> I haven't had the ability to finish or write anything in such a long time, but @keewyeet has genuinely given me such a push and rush of motivation that I ended up finish this chapter that I was stuck on for well over 6 months. So thank you so much, my love you are a sweetheart @keewyeet. 
> 
> PSA: I have not proof read this at all. I will as some point in life. I know there's probably a lot of mistakes but I dont have the time now. 
> 
> PSA: This is fully indulgent, so don't take my lack of characterization, plot etc too seriously. I'm amusing myself here, nothing too serious on the basis of writing and progressing a story.

The video zaps into life, revealing Baekhyun dressed in all-black attire with the camera held slightly above his viewpoint for clearer angles. The viewers can recognize the background as some underground garage, most likely Baekhyun’s apartment parking lot. 

“Hello! What’s up? It’s me, Byun Baekhyun.” Baekhyun greeted his fans warmly, flashing his signature peace-sign. 

The channel’s animation chimes in with a cartoon Baekhyun dancing across the screen, along with his social media accounts in the corner.

“So! Because the weather is very nice today, and it’s Jongin’s day off we thought we’ll go walk around the Han river,” Baekhyun grinned, shifting the camera to Jongin walking beside him as he looks up at the mention of his name with a shy smile. “Instead of being cooped up in the apartment.” 

“The car’s over here,” Jongin called out softly in the background, and Baekhyun pauses in his step to follow his boyfriend. 

Baekhyun shifts the camera lens to his boyfriend’s back, as they near the car. This will have been their first outing since being exposed to the public as a couple, with the addition of Baekhyun’s camera accompanying them. Jongin was the one that encouraged Baekhyun to do his usual daily vlogging content since they didn’t need to hide. Not like before. He didn’t want there to be a sudden rift or change of air because of it.

“We wore matching black outfits as you can see, to blend in more.” Baekhyun tilts the camera to his own outfit, then a quick scan of Jongin’s as a cheeky smile curls on his lips. “Bear, show the viewers a quick catwalk!” 

Jongin’s eyes double, turning to his boyfriend. “Right now?” 

Baekhyun nods his head, shaking the camera up-and-down for an exaggerated effect for the subscribers. 

“I walk, then you walk?” Jongin suggested instead, rolling his shoulders back into his model posture getting ready. 

Baekhyun laughs, rushing a few steps back away from Jongin to give the proper angle his supermodel boyfriend deserves. “Deal.” 

Both Baekhyun and the viewers watch Jongin shift into ‘Model Kai’ like a switch instantly captivated by his long legs and the air he carries himself with, walking the remainder of the short distance to the car. 

“Your turn, Baek!” 

“You are so hot right now.” Baekhyun blurs out, and Jongin simply looks away lowering his cap further down to hide his bashful expression. 

Baekhyun rushes up to his boyfriend handing the camera and runs back to his start-up point. The viewers' screen wobbles at Jongin’s terrible grip, but soon enough they are greeted with Jongin’s sharp jaw.

“You’re holding it wrong!” Baekhyun’s voice can be heard faintly, and Jongin’s jaw disappears bringing immediate disappoint into the supporters’ hearts. But not for long, since Baekhyun’s small frame is becoming much bigger and clearer with every step he took in his sudden catwalk show-down. Baekhyun swayed his hips more and positioned his arms around his chest and back in a silly manner, causing Jongin to snigger behind the camera at his boyfriend’s antics.

“How did I do?” Baekhyun grinned into the lens and back at Jongin. “Tell us who is the better runway model in the comments.”

“I’d give you a solid 6 for your voguing, and I say that very lightly.”  
“Voguing or a solid 6?” 

Jongin doesn’t answer, but the small smile plastered on his lips answers the question. Baekhyun films his boyfriend lean against the car, his warm gaze fixed on Baekhyun, and the viewers squeal at the unexpectedly soft moment. “Let’s go?” 

“Lets.” Baekhyun beamed, turning the camera to face him as he waves his goodbye. “Cue jump-clip of me and Bear walking by the Han river…..right….now! Bye!” 

And just like that Baekhyun turns off his camera, pretending his boyfriend is not watching him do his behind the scenes recording. It was one thing to see an edited video and it was another thing to see you acting more enthusiastically than usual for a video trying to not cringe at the second-hand embarrassment. Baekhyun didn’t care for what people thought of him, but there are a few people, Jongin specifically, that can turn him into a flustered mess within seconds. 

“You’re so cute.” Jongin teased, his eyes sparkling with endearment. 

“Shut up and get in.” Baekhyun grumbled, avoiding Jongin’s gaze as he unlocks his car and enters into the driver’s seat. He can hear Jongin’s soft laughter, and he has to hold himself back from touching his cheeks to check if they are as hot as they feel. 

The supermodel takes his place next to his lover, strapping himself in with the seatbelt. He glances at Baekhyun and leans over, tugging on his boyfriend’s seatbelt wrapping it over Baekhyun’s chest and clicking it into place. This was one of the things that Baekhyun absolutely adored about Jongin, his little meaningful gestures. 

Baekhyun checks his rearview mirror before resting his arm on the back of Jongin’s headrest, looking back for any sudden pedestrians or cars in the shared underground parking. As he eases out of the parking spot, he can see out of the corner of his eye Jongin fiddling with the vlogging camera on his lap. Baekhyun holds back a sigh as he focuses back on getting out.

“I won’t film for long, I want this to be a proper date. Not me working.” 

Jongin looks up startled by the sudden announcement. “Huh? It’s fine, I told you I don’t want things to be different, just because—“ 

“Things are going to be different if you keep up with that stupid mindset,” Baekhyun tutted, flicking Jongin’s forehead finally exiting the underground parking. “I can literally see the wheels in your head overthinking this whole thing.” 

“I just…” Jongin can’t even look at Baekhyun, he feels stupid for even having these thoughts. “You mean so much to me, and I don’t want things to be different because now we’re publicly dating. I want you to keep doing what you love, without like, having me be a boundary or something. I don’t want to stop you or get in your way…”

Baekhyun’s brows furrow instantly at the comment, as they enter one of the main streets. “A boundary? Of course, you are a boundary of mine! I love you, I won’t let anyone say or do anything that can cause you harm or discomfort. In all forms, filming included.” 

“But I like watching you shoot for videos, and helping you with them. It’s fun, you know that.” Jongin insisted, he just didn’t want to become a burden on Baekhyun. 

“I’m happy as long as you are, sweetheart. But we don’t have to force something when it’s not being forced already.” Baekhyun explains softly, his frown slowly disappearing. He’d do everything in his all power to keep his Jongin out of harm’s way, _everything._

“I just don’t want you to regret ever bothering to date me!” Jongin blurs out unable to look at Baekhyun’s direction. Instead, he squeezes his eyes shut, gripping his knees tightly. Baekhyun was the light of his life, and just the possibility of external factors that could possibly make him leave Jongin, leave his life was a terrifying thought to the supermodel. “I…don't want you to feel like being with me is a chore or something, I don't want things to change. I’m scared!” 

Jongin knows he’s put his foot in it, and he ruined their perfectly planned afternoon because he’s just insecure when it comes to relationships. The car’s speed shifts evidently and Jongin knows Baekhyun must have swerved to the side of the pavement and parked since they weren’t moving anymore. He doesn’t even dare to open his eyes, too embarrassed that he must have stunned Baekhyun into silence with his idiocy. However, what he doesn’t expect is to feel Baekhyun’s slender hands cupping his face, forcing Jongin to turn to him.

“Open your eyes.” Baekhyun’s voice is woven in velvet. “Jongin-ah..” 

Jongin doesn’t move, too many emotions stuck onto him like pollen to a bee. He was the one that suggested for Baekhyun to document their date, it was an exciting thought to finally be part of Baekhyun’s passion in this way, but at the same time, it was terrifying because what if a shift occurs. And as time passes on and they’ll start to film together out of obligation and stress, instead of it being fun and exciting. 

“Alright then, you leave me no other choice,” Baekhyun warns airily, and before Jongin can even formulate a proper thought he feels Baekhyun’s plush lips on his, and the anxiety seeps out of Jongin’s uneasy heart at the familiar touch.

As Jongin leans into the kiss for comfort, he can sense Baekhyun’s lips widen into a smirk. Jongin can’t help but pull away first, his cheeks tinted in rosiness, trying to hide his smile. He totally hadn’t expected Baekhyun to kiss him in such an abrupt manner, so he looks away but Baekhyun holds his chin in place. 

“You finally looked at me,” Baekhyun murmurs, his thumb brushing against Jongin’s pouting lips for a moment. 

Jongin pushes Baekhyun’s hand away and sits back on his own space. His lips still tingle, every time they kiss. “You didn’t need to tease.” 

“You feel better that you got that off your chest?” Baekhyun asked, flashing Jongin a half-smile as he reaches over and intertwines their fingers together. 

Jongin nods his head, and he did. He knows how quickly he can get himself worked-up over scenarios and situations that haven’t even happened but Baekhyun always keeps him grounded. Baekhyun waits till the street isn’t packed, and with one hand on the steering wheel, while the other is holding Jongin’s, he skillfully pulls out of his hazardous parking and into the road. 

“Good, I don’t like it when you try to hide your feelings from me,” Baekhyun admitted, kissing Jongin’s knuckles. “It makes me feel like I’m a bad boyfriend.” 

“But you’re not!” Jongin defended immediately, only to receive a breathy laugh from Baekhyun that eases him.

“Then share your worries with me, as I do with you. Don’t keep it all bottled up like that.” 

“I will,” Jongin promised, any remaining apprehension on his face seemed to have completely disappeared. 

“And give me a little bit more credit, would you? If you think all it’s gonna take is us filming a few times together before something ‘changes’ then you don’t know me as well as I thought you did.” Baekhyun grinned cheekily. “Don’t worry. I bite back.” 

(—————) 

As the video cut-jumps into a zoomed-in and slightly tilted Baekhyun with a black face mask on, he readjusts Jongin’s hold on the camera before stepping back satisfied. The viewers can see the glistening Han river as the backdrop with Baekhyun leaning against the railing waving at the camera. 

“And we are finally here!” Baekhyun announced, gesturing to the water with his arms stretched out. “We’re going to look for a more secluded, y’know, less crowded area to not get spotted—“ 

“—Mention the face masks.” Jongin shout-whispered behind the camera, as if his voice wasn’t booming into the mic for the viewers to hear, Baekhyun added subtitles in the final cut. The viewers practically squeal at Jongin’s earnestness.

“Yes!” Baekhyun clicked his fingers, his eyes crinkled in delight at how eager his boyfriend is. “Just in case it wasn’t that obvious, we’re wearing face masks to be able to walk around without attracting attention as much.” 

Baekhyun takes the camera out of Jongin’s hand and tilts it upwards to show his tall boyfriend’s own concealed face. “Plus, it completes the outfit, y’know? Accessories if you will.” 

Jongin waves a quick peace-sign towards the camera-lens before they begin to walk together. It wasn’t a total surprise to see the park crowded since the weather today was so nice with the sun out and clear sky, no fine-dust in sight. But with a park this big, the couple were bound to find a lot of hidden spots, and less crowded areas they can leisure in total peace. Or so they hope. 

“It’s a little ironic for us to be, erm, what’s the word… babe help me out here.” 

“Undercover?” Jongin said unsurely, almost wincing out the word. 

“No, but I like it better! Undercover!” Baekhyun bumps their shoulders together in delight. “Makes me feel like we’re ninjas.” 

Jongin can’t help but chuckle at his boyfriend acting like a hyper puppy. He laces their fingers together, enjoying the sunshine and Baekhyun’s soothing voice as he talked to the camera, holding it up to eye-level.

“Like I was saying, a little ironic for us to be undercover and still walk around holding a camera and talking to it.” Baekhyun chatted brightly, and then immediately lowering the camera down with only his chin and chest on display in an awkward fashion. “Sorry guys, we just walked through a different route and, it’s super packed.” 

“Woah, everyone is taking a picnic today.” Jongin’s voice is filled with awe in the background. “Look at all the tents!” 

Baekhyun flips the camera to reveal the green meadow against the Han river. It was littered with the tents and open mat spreads only a few feet from one another. Families, couples, friends — they were all here. “Yeah, it looks like half of Seoul had the same idea as us.” 

“It looks like so much fun,” Jongin assessed with wondering eyes scanning everybody. “I’ve never had a picnic, so this makes me kind of envious.” 

Baekhyun whirls his head to Jongin, taken back. “Really? You’ve never had a picnic?” 

Jongin shakes his head with a sad smile reminiscing his past and tugs Baekhyun to walk again. “Wasn’t something productive is what my parents said.” 

Baekhyun’s chest tightened a little by the off-handed comment. He knows that Jongin and his family didn’t have a good relationship at all, and whenever Jongin seemed to be vulnerable enough he’d talk a little about it here and there but nothing drastic. 

Baekhyun chews his bottom lip for a moment in thought then lifting his camera up. 

“I decided to make this a ‘walk with us’ video, all aesthetics and near zero-to-none talking,” Baekhyun said as he scrunches up his nose playfully, resting his head on Jongin’s arm as they walked. “Just enjoying the good weather and quality time with my boyfriend.” 

And just like that Baekhyun switches off his camera, stuffing it into his sling bag. He begins his search in the small bag for his sunglasses, praying that he hasn’t forgotten them back in the car. Baekhyun doesn’t really notice Jongin yank him to the side just as a row of cyclists zoom past them until he felt their forceful wind trail after them. 

“You really need to look where you’re going.” Jongin lectured, wrapping his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulder tucking him close. He knows how quickly Baekhyun can zone out into his own world. 

“I don’t need to when I have my own bodyguard looking for me.” Baekhyun stuck his tongue out at his boyfriend who mimics him back.

“You would have definitely died if I didn’t just save you.” Jongin singsonged pecking the side of Baekhyun’s temple. “I think you owe me now, after all, I did save you from a near-death experience.” 

Baekhyun scoffs, holding his hand over his chest. “You call it—“

“Your heart’s on the other side…” Jongin whispered, observing Baekhyun shift his palm to the correct area of his heart. He gives him a quick nod of approval, as Baekhyun clears his throat. 

“You call it a near-death experience,” Baekhyun continued as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “I call it a vibe-check from God.”

“I think you being short is already an obvious message from God,” Jongin teased good-naturedly. He loved their banter, and how witty Baekhyun can get during his repertoires. And as for Baekhyun, he was more than ecstatic to see Jongin laughing and smiling with no trace of stress or worry in his body.

“Oh really? What kind of message is that, you palm-tree?” 

Jongin snorts at the weak insult. “The kind of message that says —in between the lines, of course—“ 

“Of course.” Baekhyun repeated, his arms crossed over his chest.

“That if you get any shorter you’ll be wiped out of existence, you small muffin.” 

And as on cue Baekhyun makes an incredulous gasp, elbowing Jongin in his stomach lightly. “Small muffin? _small muffin?!_ “ 

“What? Am I wrong?” Jongin challenged utterly entertained, only to receive a scoff. 

“Tall people are the real enemies of the world.”  
“I can’t even see you hating all the way down there.” 

This cued the second exaggerated gasp from Baekhyun, while Jongin laughs even harder at his boyfriend’s dramatic nature. 

“I will tie your shoelaces together and you won’t even know till it’s too late.” Baekhyun threatened, waving his fingers in Jongin’s face for intimidation purposes but he looked like a very terrible mime instead. 

“As if I’d let you do me dirty like that, I am the sharpest and most observant pers—oh hello buddy!” 

Suddenly Jongin is no longer in Baekhyun’s peripheral vision, disappearing in an instant. Baekhyun did nothing but blink at where his boyfriend stood seconds ago. He slowly looks down and there was his supermodel boyfriend squatted on the ground looking just as excited as the corgi dog he’s petting. 

Baekhyun turns to the dog owner, a man in his late 40’s, and gives him a polite nod and hopes that his smile is clear enough under the mask.

“What was it you were saying about being sharp?” Baekhyun reminded with a quirked brow. 

Jongin glances up at Baekhyun and tugs his mask down to his chin, revealing a beaming bright grin and tinted rosy cheeks. Just as Jongin was about to speak, the small dog jumped on him out of pure excitement that it caused Jongin to fall onto his backside, his laughter hearty and boyish. 

It was so wholesome and genuine that Baekhyun could do nothing but stare dumbly. 

_Enthral._

The amber rays of sunshine looked like star dusk dancing around Jongin’s entity. Baekhyun could ramble off for hours listing all the things he adored about Jongin. But if somebody asked him what his favourite thing about his boyfriend, Baekhyun would say his eyes. 

In the sun, Jongin’s eyes were like pitiless pools of honey. In the dark, they were like muddy earth after heavy rain. Pulling Baekhyun in with tremendous force and gravity. 

Effortlessly, Jongin was like eternal summer personified. 

Baekhyun pulled out his phone and began taking adorable pictures of his boyfriend playing with the dog, trying to calm the wild butterflies in his stomach. It was the unexpected normal moments like this, that Baekhyun is reminded of just _how much_ he loves his Jongin. 

(—————)

The couple was walking around the vast park, holding hands and enjoying each other’s company talking about everything and nothing in the same breath. They cherished their time together, especially with Jongin travelling and being away so often due to work with minimum to no flexibility in his schedule, unlike Baekhyun. 

“Hey, look.” Baekhyun pointed to a big open basketball court with blue flooring and a dozen or so players on it, some sitting on the sidelines watching the others play. “I think we deserve a well-earned break, come on let’s sit somewhere and watch.” 

Jongin nods and scans the area they were in now. If they’d been a normal couple with no fame and status they’d sit on the grass with the rest of the public and enjoy the warmth of the sun openly, but instead opted to the black metal bench near the path they were walking, almost hidden out of view by the shadow of the trees. 

“The sky looks really close up here. Woah.” Jongin said in fascination leaning back, pressing himself against Baekhyun who welcomes him with a soft pat on the thigh. 

Baekhyun has taken the liberty of taking out his camera and documenting their scenery and the game he’s interested in. 

“There’s a basketball game we’re currently watching,” Baekhyun whispers behind the camera, zooming in smoothly into the open court. 

Jongin watches his boyfriend take his time in scanning their surroundings with the camera, and he has to say the park was a great idea for them. It was a bonus they haven’t been spotted either. 

Baekhyun flips the camera to face them, lowering it enough to be discreet and not attract attention from passerby’s. He meant what he said about making this video very much revolve around the aesthetics, so he waves to the camera and Jongin waves beside him with crescent eyes indicating that he’s grinning behind the mask. 

“Who do you think will win? The team with the shirts on or off?” Baekhyun chats to Jongin, placing his camera on his lap still rolling for the sake of a good time-lapse of people walking past them and a clear view of the basketball game they’re watching. He’ll add some lo-fi music in the background, knowing the viewers will enjoy the calming content as if they’re with them on the date. 

Jongin squints at the two teams in the match. “With shirts on definitely.” 

“Is that so?” Baekhyun’s eyes light up with mischief and Jongin can only wonder what his boyfriend is up to. “How about we make a friendly bet.” 

“How high are the stakes?” 

Baekhyun deliberately makes a pause for dramatic effects before lowering his mask to further exaggerate as he enunciates. “ _Food._ ” 

Jongin snorts but plays along fake gasping, lowering his mask and leans in. “I didn’t realize they were that high.” 

“Are you in or are you out?” Baekhyun smirks, his brow quirked upwards. 

Jongin can smell Baekhyun’s coconut shampoo from their closeness, he just wants to hug him. Make him even closer than he is already. “Always in. What’s the bet, my love?” 

“Whoever’s team scores the next point is the winner.” Baekhyun explains the ground rules, glancing at Jongin’s plump lips then back up into his honey eyes. “Loser gets to treat the winner for food the _whole_ day. Deal?” 

Jongin doesn’t hold back and kisses Baekhyun tenderly, cupping Baekhyun’s face. Baekhyun knocks their knees together in surprise, but deepens the kiss, gently gripping Jongin’s wrist. 

“Is this how you seal all your deals?” Baekhyun teased after pulling away, clutching onto his camera lazily to prevent it from falling on the ground with his eyes still locked on Jongin’s. 

Jongin laughs and pulls his mask back on, as Baekhyun does the same. “Only the ones that I like.” 

“Aren’t I a lucky one then?” Baekhyun tilted his head, resembling a small pup. 

Before Jongin can reply, a loud cheer interrupts and the pair turn their heads to the basketball court watching the team without shirts jump around hugging each other and Baekhyun turns to Jongin victorious. “I win!” 

Jongin ready to pout and whine his way out of his loss, freezes. In the corner of his eye, on the grass across from where they were currently sat, were a small group of teenager girls, three to be precise, gawking at Jongin and Baekhyun in shock trying to be discreet. 

“We got spotted…” Jongin whispers, trying to not be obvious that he located the fans. “Don’t be obvious, they’re sitting on the blue picnic blanket near the big tree, three girls.” 

Baekhyun, on the other hand, was not tactful. He fully whipped his head around trying to find the group and he does so painfully clear that the young girls flinch and gasp unanimously. What Jongin nor the fangirls expect was for Baekhyun to raise his camera, aim it in their direction, and wave. The reaction was instant, the girls clung onto each other, covering their mouths and talking over one another in a state of excited disbelief and mild hyperventilation that they’ve been noticed by celebrities. The girls shyly wave and the couple wave back. 

“Cute.” Jongin chuckled alongside Baekhyun, their shoulders touching. “Do you think they’ll approach us?” 

“Nah, they’re too shy,” Baekhyun assured with a soft giggle, tucking his camera back into his bag. “Wanna wave again?” 

Jongin nudges him in disapproval but nods, not seeing any harm in being playful with the fans. The couple wave again at the fangirls, and once again they shake one another trying to keep sane that the celebrities waved to them, twice. The girls raise their phones to take a picture but Jongin makes an ‘x’ symbol with his fingers at them, and the fans understood the message nodding hurriedly lowering their phones. 

“Do you think our kiss was the thing that made them notice?” Jongin forever the worrywart, asked touching his mask self-consciously. 

“If we wanna kiss in public then we will bloody kiss. I’m not holding back from kissing your pouty lips whenever I want, for any reason.” Baekhyun states childishly, glancing at Jongin. “You better not hold back either when you want to kiss me, okay?” 

“I’m the one that kissed you just now…” Jongin grumbled looking away flushed but nods nevertheless knowing his small smile wasn’t showing behind the thick mask. 

Baekhyun doesn’t waste any more time and springs up on his feet standing in front of Jongin, holding his hand out. “How long do you think it’ll be before our location is exposed?” 

“I didn’t see them take pictures, so I think we’re safe for now.” Jongin can’t help but laugh, clasping his hand with Baekhyun’s wrapping his arms around Baekhyun’s smaller frame into a back-hug and pulls away. ““You make it sound like we’re about to get killed.” 

“Boooo,” Baekhyun said deadpanned poking Jongin’s side and swinging their clasped hands together. “Let’s go look for food because I am close to eating some branches.” 

“I heard they’re high in fibre,” Jongin said playfully, taking out his phone from his back pocket. “I’m sure there is some convenience store around here, you big foodie.” 

“Do I hear judgement?”  
“Nope, full love.” 

Baekhyun isn’t one to be easily flustered, however, Jongin is one with calculated surprise attacks and a ridiculously handsome laughter that forces Baekhyun to go weak at the knees. This was one of those surprise attacks. 

Baekhyun’s eyes widen by how sincere and confident the words came out of Jongin’s mouth. He was ready to joke and tease Jongin until he’s a blushing mess, but the roles have reversed. It was Baekhyun that fidgeted with his mask, avoiding eye contact with his boyfriend, trying to ease his heartbeats due to those simple words and sincerity behind them. 

“Piss off..” Baekhyun still wanted to win this sudden battle of overload serotonin and electric tingles travelling in his bloodstream, but his voice came out scratchy and Jongin’s breathy laughter rung in the air in response. And once again, Baekhyun felt like he was going to combust by the melodic voice of his boyfriend’s. 

“It’s a 10-minute walk to the nearest convenience store.” Jongin waves his phone in front of Baekhyun, the screen illuminating with the mapping service of their destination. 

“I am going to buy everything in the store as revenge.” Baekhyun puffed out his cheeks in rebellion, playing with Jongin’s laced fingers in his hand. 

“Revenge for making you blush? I accept with full responsibility.”  
“Just lead the way, you annoyingly gorgeous tall man.”

(————)

The convenience store was surprisingly larger than they expected, as they admired the off-white building walking up the small hill it was located on. 

Baekhyun had his camera out but held it at waist-high ready to record their food hunt. The camera was small enough to be undetected if Baekhyun was careful enough. Jongin on the other hand, tugged down his cap even further to shield his features in hope of not being found out, swarmed and his personal space bubble violated. 

“Bear, do you want ice coffee or juice?” Baekhyun calls out from the refrigerator section. “There’s this watermelon juice with aloe? That’s new.” 

Jongin shakes his head and waves a bottle of sparkling water instead, walking up to his boyfriend. Baekhyun knows Jongin will regret not getting coffee later, so he reaches over to the coffee section grabbing two. 

“I got both of us black coffee since it’s a buy one, get one deal.” Baekhyun held onto the small cans against his chest. 

“I got you the string jelly candy you like,” Jongin said taking the cans from Baekhyun, to give his boyfriend more comfort while he filmed whatever he desires. 

Jongin can see a few costumers glancing their way, and he isn’t sure if they’ve been found out or curious that Baekhyun is holding onto a camera. But before he can dwell on the situation, Baekhyun drags him to the freezers. 

“Let’s get ice cream.” 

Jongin chuckles at Baekhyun’s behaviour, he’s like an eager kid whenever they buy food. “Which one do you want?” 

“This one, what about you? You’ve been eyeing the freezer since we got in.” Baekhyun points at the melon-flavoured ice cream sliding the glass open. 

Jongin doesn’t reply immediately, he didn’t realize he was that obvious but then again Baekhyun had always been very observant. So with a trained smile, Jongin shakes his head again. He has a photoshoot tomorrow, he’d rather not get an earful from his deprecating mother for eating out of his diet, especially sugary things. His skin could break out, he could get sick, he could bloat, he’d end up going over the calorie limit. All of these thoughts swarmed his mind instantly, and he shivers already imagine her narrowed eyes and tight scowl. 

“I don’t want anything, I’m not really that hungry.” 

Jongin’s stomach rumbles, exposing the model’s lie and Baekhyun instantly frowns. 

“Jongin…” Baekhyun trails off, turning to his boyfriend but Jongin avoids eye contact. 

Baekhyun knows the model has a bad history with food, to the point of hospitalization and diagnosed eating disorders in his younger years and with his profession, it was difficult for a solid recovery. Jongin’s very strict on himself and his regime. “Fine, I won’t get anything either.” 

Jongin certainly did not expect that response, and he cannot fathom why Baekhyun wouldn’t want any suddenly. “But you said you wanted ice cream.” 

“I’ll get ice cream if you split it with me.” Baekhyun negotiated.

“I—“ Jongin’s shoulders sag, everything clicking in an instant. This was a battle he won’t win, not today. “Can we get the water-based ice cream, Instead of the dairy? It has less…” Jongin can’t even finish his sentence worried that it’ll upset Baekhyun. 

Pride swells in Baekhyun’s chest. He understands that it’s difficult for someone like Jongin and his relationship with food, every day is a hurdle for Jongin. Some days were easier, while others weren’t. But today, Jongin didn’t fight and object about his food intake instead he accepted that it’s normal and he won’t need to punish himself for indulging on an ice lolly on a hot day, and for that Baekhyun is proud. 

“Okay! Blueberry or strawberry?” Baekhyun asks cheerfully, already pulling out the strawberry flavour knowing it’s Jongin’s favourite. 

“Strawberry!”  
“Perfect!” 

Baekhyun ends up going back to the drinks section, wanting to try the watermelon juice with aloe after all. But he didn’t realize how high up it would be stacked. So, the YouTuber struggled to retrieve the item from the top shelf while Jongin watched on in amusement. 

“Do you need me to get it for you?” 

Baekhyun glares at Jongin, and that only makes his boyfriend laugh. “How dare you insult the vertically challenged?” 

“Okay then.” Jongin raises his hands in the air in a gesture of surrender. 

Baekhyun sighs immediately in defeat after trying once more and steps back with an evident pout. “Help me.” 

Jongin reaches his long arm and picks up the drink, holding onto it. “All done?” 

“Yup, let’s go pay.” 

The line for the cashier is a little long, but it’s quick. However, not quick enough because Baekhyun knows they’ve been spotted with the gawking looks they were getting like peacocks in a zoo. He glances up at Jongin and he can see his boyfriend tensing up with all their items in his arms and Baekhyun wants to get out as quickly as possible. 

“You good?” Baekhyun whispers, nudging Jongin’s side. 

“E-Excuse me, are you by any chance Kai? The model?” A girl in her early 20’s taps Jongin on the shoulder, she seems to have been the chosen one out of her group that was loitering in the corner holding their phones up. 

Jongin and Baekhyun exchange glances, and before Jongin can even speak Baekhyun beats him to it, tugging Jongin forward. 

“No, he always gets mistaken for him.” 

A second girl stands united beside her friend and nods hurriedly, her phone in their faces. “Really? Because he has his eyes.”

“And you look like his boyfriend, what’s he called?” The first girl comments pointing at Baekhyun. 

“Who knows, wait let me pull out a picture.”  
“It is his boyfriend, look he’s holding a camera.” 

Baekhyun curses under his breath, shoving his camera into his bag. 

“Can we take a picture?” 

Jongin leans back slightly by the uncomfortable proximity of the phones shoved to their faces. “I’m sorry, I can’t take pictures. I’ll be more than happy to sign something instead.” 

“Please! One photo!” The girls urged. 

“Next.” 

Jongin and Baekhyun couldn’t be more thankful rushing up to the counter, as the cashier rings up their items. The girls have no concept of personal space because they’re still standing a few inches away from the model and YouTuber filming them with blatant disregard. Jongin readjusts his mask, hoping the girls would stop, he feels like an animal in a zoo. Everyone else in the store is looking at him and Baekhyun, and he just wants to disappear with all of the unpleasant attention. 

“Can you not film us? Jongin said he’s more than glad to sign something for you.” Baekhyun said stiffly, trying to remain calm. In the past, he had no issues putting people in their place but he can’t do that now since the media can twist his words and actions into something that would harm Jongin’s reputation. 

The girls ignore Baekhyun’s request, their phone still aimed at the couple’s faces. Jongin bites his tongue annoyed, pulling Baekhyun closer to him using his own body as a blockade to prevent them from filming his boyfriend. Baekhyun glances at Jongin with raised brows about to explain that he’s fine, he’s more worried about Jongin being uncomfortable but Jongin was staring ahead, with thunderous eyes. 

Jongin hands over his card to the cashier, picking up the plastic bag on the counter. He wraps a protective arm around Baekhyun’s waist, as he turns his head sharply to the girls glaring. 

“Please delete it.” Jongin nodded at the phone, but the girls paid him no mind. 

“Take a picture with us!”  
“It won’t even take more than a second.”  
“Soyuo, quickly take the picture of us.” 

The two girls gathered around Jongin and Baekhyun already in a posing stance, but Jongin scoffs in disbelief pushing past the pair holding Baekhyun tightly. The girls fret rushing to catch up but one look from Jongin’s intense gaze made them stop. 

“ _Don’t_ follow us.” 

Jongin moves with skilled speed and agility, zig-zagging past people and walking through the narrower paths until the noises of the park have quietened down to a muted tranquil with the sounds of the river’s water in the far distance. They seemed on the edge of an empty field with wooden gazebo, near them. 

“Sorry, we’ll stay here for a bit then get back to walking.” Jongin uttered softly, kissing Baekhyun’s temple in apology. 

Baekhyun’s lips curl into a smirk, placing his hands on his hips. “Well shit, that was sexy of you.” 

Jongin blinks. “Huh?” 

“Don’t follow us.” Baekhyun repeated Jongin’s earlier threat, purposely swaggering towards his boyfriend and tugs down his mask watching Jongin do the same before giving him a quick peck. “You’re sexy when your mad.” 

“Baekhyun!” Jongin whined throwing his head back with an evident pout. And Baekhyun swears he could envision some flattened out kitten ears on his boyfriend’s head. 

A light bulb goes off in Baekhyun’s mind, his entire face lit up at the mere idea. He turns to Jongin who is watching him with curiosity trying to read his boyfriend’s expression. Without a second to waste, Baekhyun starts to sprint across the gorgeous meadow heading straight to the wooden gazebo. 

“Loser has a flat ass!” Baekhyun shouted in a burst of laughter, peeking over his shoulder his smile big. 

Jongin jumps into action running after his boyfriend, the sound of their shared laughter was bright and cheerful like the dandelions blossoming on the peaceful field. They always find ways to capture happiness, even in the unexpected of situations. Their blithe was infectious; Baekhyun jumped and twirled like a prime ballerino, meanwhile Jongin leaped in the air trying to soar as high as the birds. 

It’s the little things. 

“Got you!” Jongin cheered, his arms secured around Baekhyun’s waist spinning his boyfriend softly. 

“I still win.” Baekhyun teased, kissing Jongin’s jaw wiggling out of his boyfriend’s arms, standing side by side in the gazebo — a secluded spot for them. “Come on let’s eat the ice cream before it melts.” 

Jongin nods eagerly, letting himself get pulled by Baekhyun to sit on the built-in bench of the wooden structure. Jongin sits on the bench cross-legged and turned to face Baekhyun fully, as the latter copies him. 

“Nothing beats a cold drink on a hot day.” Baekhyun exclaims, taking another sip of the canned ice coffee. 

Jongin hums in agreement, opening the string jelly candy for his boyfriend placing it in between them as he rummages through the plastic bag to pull out the other items. 

Baekhyun dangles a jelly string into his mouth, watching Jongin sip his drink he can see Jongin’s hand shake faintly. 

“Are you alright?” Baekhyun asks softly, placing his hand on Jongin’s thigh. 

Jongin sighs letting his forehead rest on Baekhyun’s shoulder for a moment. He hated confrontation, he wasn’t good at it. It always brought painful memories for him, and until now it almost always takes an undesirable, exhausting toll on him. He doesn’t know what he’ll do when his mom-manager calls, it’s inevitable now. The photos probably with some theatrical lie of a story will be out or are out by now, and the PR will make sure it’ll be buried but after what. 

“I hate it.” Jongin whispers faintly. He often wonders what would life be if he wasn’t who he was. “I can’t even talk about it, management will have my head if I even tried to explain myself to what just happened. _’Don’t add fuel to the fire.’_ I just want to try and defend myself for having a life… but everyone tells me to just sit and be pretty. And they were being super rude to you!” 

Baekhyun hums in understanding, pecking Jongin’s neck in an act of comfort. 

Then a eureka of an idea strikes him. “What if you did…before the photos or whatever bullshit is out?” 

Jongin lifts his head, his face resembling one of a confused pup. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean, why don’t you do just that? Literally lets go on IG Live right now and tell people to stop coming into your space and taking unsolicited pictures of you, especially when you’re always super polite about it!” Baekhyun rambled, holding his boyfriend’s phone in the air as if it’s some golden ticket. 

“I don’t know, it might end badly…” Jongin said quietly. This was a big step for Jongin, it was. He’d never gone against his management or parents. The only time he has officially went behind their backs was when he began dating Baekhyun. Jongin re-focuses on his boyfriend’s face, and his bright smile just gave Jongin that last push of reassurance and confidence that he did need to speak up. That he does have a platform, and a voice. 

“Okay?” Baekhyun echoed Jongin’s unsaid thought, a brow quirked upwards. 

“Yeah.” Jongin nodded, taking his phone from his boyfriend to unlock it only to see his reflection on the black screen. “Uh, it’s dead.” 

“Bear!” Baekhyun snorts, pulling out his own phone ready to set up. “Why am I not surprised? I should’ve brought the power-bank.” 

“I thought it _was_ charged!” Jongin complained childishly, watching Baekhyun set up the phone expertly to capture both their faces with decent lighting inside the abandoned wooden gazebo. 

Baekhyun scoffs, biting the corner of the ice cream wrapper ready to devour it. “You always think its charged!” 

Jongin pulls the ice cream out of Baekhyun’s mouth, and delicately unwraps the strawberry-flavored ice-lolly as Baekhyun is one click away from turning on his IG Live. 

“Ready?” 

“What would I say?” Jongin blurred out terrified, as soon as they turn on the IG Live everything can be recorded, no take backs or edits or slips of words. He needed to be careful, he doesn’t want to offend or give the wrong impression. 

“Talk from the heart, you’ll know.” Baekhyun smiled, squeezing Jongin’s hand for moral support. However, he doesn’t want to push Jongin into doing something he isn’t comfortable with. “We can literally not do it, whatever you want.” 

Jongin shakes his head, he’ll be fine. Baekhyun is with him, he’ll help him muddle through when necessary. “No, we can do it.” 

With that final verdict, Baekhyun switches on his IG Live instantly attracting a swarm of people with the initial number of viewers becoming 35k. The numbers were growing steadily and quickly, jumping well over 100K. 

“Hey guys.” Baekhyun greeted the viewers with Jongin beside him waving. “We’re just going to wait a few more minutes for the numbers to get higher.” 

Jongin tries to read the comments but they were moving like lightening, he isn’t sure what to do or how to begin but Baekhyun is a veteran in the virtual world, he knows his ways around social media. That thought alone, calms Jongin’s beating heart. So as subtly as possible, Jongin glances down at their hands almost touching, and wraps his pinky finger with Baekhyun. 

“ _where are you?_ We’re out.” Baekhyun answers one of the questions, sharing the ice-lolly with Jongin who takes a small bite of it as Baekhyun looks at him scandalized that he actually bit off a piece of ice-cream. 

The viewer count has gone up to a decent 380K and Baekhyun deems it as acceptable enough for them to share Jongin’s issue, so it’ll spread and be known. 

“Okay, the numbers have gone high enough and we wanted to talk to you guys about something serious that happened today, with Jongin and I when we were out and about.” Gone was the bubbly and loud Baekhyun that Jongin often sees and there he was solemn and sincere. 

“Jongin and I don’t really go out for our dates, since we’re both homebodies but today the weather was nice and we thought let’s go walking under the sun. But it’s becoming a really big problem for us, Jongin more so than me since he doesn’t enjoy sharing his private life, as he should.” Baekhyun began, turning to Jongin who smiled at him gratefully. 

“Hey..” Jongin began hesitantly, but Baekhyun’s shoulder bumps into his and Jongin gains strength at the mere touch. “I was with Baek trying to buy a few snacks, and a group of fans I-I shouldn’t really call them fans for what they did, but we were waiting in line and they barged into our personal space, asked for pictures. I told them I can’t but I’ll be more than happy to sign—“ 

“But they were being super passive-aggressive!” Baekhyun butted in with a mouthful of ice-cream. 

Jongin nods in agreement. “They were rude to Baek, and started to take pictures of us and I asked them to delete it but they ignored me and carried on. I hate it. Please be respectful when we ask for our pictures to not be taken.” 

_  
he literally makes a living out of his pics being taken.  
Dramatic AF  
omg!!! Sorry u had to go through that  
Stay strong  
WTF!! So not cool  
I would’ve fucking thrown their phones away  
Lololololol  
U do realize ur like famous right?  
THE FANS ARE THE ONES THAT MADE U FAMOUS  
why they mad for?? Not that serious  
I know right?  
_

“So what if he makes a living out of his gorgeous face?” Baekhyun said heatedly, pressing his face close to the camera waving the ice cream irritated. “FYI Jonginnie does so much more shit you ignorant little fuck. So, because he’s famous and known that makes him a fucking robot that does what everyone wants and pleases? He’s a fucking human, so am I!” 

_  
He’s being defensive because we’re right.  
Lmfao why so mad?  
Ignore them, they’re being TROLLZ  
Low-key kinda agree, celebs have a right to say no  
Not everyone is in the mood for a picture  
His supporters come to him & he’s acting like he’s too good for a pic  
_

Baekhyun is known to be easily riled up, its one of the reasons that made him known within the YouTube community for being a menace when he needed to be, placing people in their rightful place. But Baekhyun often holds back whenever he’s with Jongin and there’s people out of their immediate circle because he could damage Jongin’s reputation in the fashion world, it’s a totally different level to social media. 

“I _am_ grateful for everyone that supports me.” Jongin intervenes, he’d rather not have Baekhyun blow up with roughly 500K viewers. He knows his boyfriend will regret, so subtly Jongin leans against Baekhyun as if to anchor him. He can’t keep hiding behind everyone. 

“For me, it’s the difference between being able to have a life or not. If someone takes a photograph of me and posts it, within two seconds they’ve created a marker of exactly where I am within 10 meters. They can see what I’m wearing and who I am with. I just can’t give that tracking data.” Jongin explained calmly, tapping his fingers on Baekhyun’s thigh out of nerves. “It risks my safety and privacy. Does that make sense?” 

The comment sections has turned into a battle-zone, the supporters outweighing the anti-fans with all of their overwhelming support and understanding. The yellow hearts are flowing and Jongin can’t help but feel like a ton has been lifted from his shoulders. He didn’t expect it to be this easy to talk, to explain, to interact. 

Baekhyun lets out a playful smirk at Jongin, watching his boyfriend visibly deflate out of all the tension earlier. “Spoken like a proper philosopher.” 

Jongin rolls his eyes but he can’t hold back a small smile. “Shut up.” 

Instead of the couple turning off the IG Live after their mini announcement, Baekhyun suggested they play a little with the fans for a change of atmosphere and Jongin enthusiastically agreed, being more comfortable on camera. 

“Oh wow when I said send us a few questions, I didn’t know it would be this chaotic.” Baekhyun teased, peeling open a protein bar giving half of it to Jongin. “Alright alright, let’s try to read some.” 

“What’s it like dating each other?” Jongin read aloud, leaning back a little since the sun decided to shine a beam directly at them. 

Baekhyun squints at all the sunshine before letting out a breathy laugh. “He’s like a golden retriever! He gives off that type of energy right?” 

Unknowst to the couple, but the comment section was going a little wild with Jongin’s loving gaze on Baekhyun. He had such a lazy smile, it held such affection and warmth. “Well, I’ll give you guys an example and let you guys have your own conclusions,” 

“Once, I asked him for water while he was still pissed at me and he brought me a glass full of ice and said ‘wait’.” Jongin reminisced, they had been arguing over who had the best character development in their favourite television show. “I love him.”

“Where are you guys?” Baekhyun echoed. “We’re out, obvious by this gorgeous sun and cool breeeeeze.” 

Jongin keeps noticing how Baekhyun is still squinting due to the sunshine, so without a word he takes off his own cap and plops it on Baekhyun’s head as if it’s nothing. 

Baekhyun continues to chatter with the fans, but his stomach tightened by the sweet gesture. He prays that his cheeks haven’t turned red because he stumbled over a few of his words trying to not smile so wide at Jongin being an absolute gentleman. 

“Who do you aspire to be? What type of person?” Baekhyun reads, popping the last piece of the protein bar into his mouth. “I want to be a caterpillar.” 

“Why?” Jongin asked genuinely intrigued. 

Baekhyun tilts his head back to look at Jongin with such brazen confidence in his orbs. “Eat a lot. Sleep a lot. Wake up beautiful.” 

“You know most of them have a lifespan of about a week, right?”  
“That’s just another highlight.” 

Jongin shakes his head unimpressed, but the smile on his face betrays his true feelings.

“ _Why are you guys out?_ we’re out for a date and an aesthetic kinda vlog I’ll be uploading this week.” Baekhyun informed, readjusting Jongin’s cap on his head. “Actually something that a lot of you guys don’t know, is that Jongin was my camera man for a lot of my videos since we weren’t out yet. His grip isn’t so shaky anymore, right?” 

Jongin let out a dramatic gasp, sitting up. “Hey! You said I had a great hold.” 

“I said that because I love you.” 

“Yeah well guess what? You snore.” Jongin retaliated, his smile wide and cheeky. 

“How long have you had that stored? Huh?” Baekhyun poked Jongin’s side, but the model simply pretends to shrug in indifference. “And FYI, I only snore when I’m dead tired.” 

“Then you’re always tried.” Jongin fact-checked.  
“Yeah, tired of your bullshit.” 

The couple dissolve into silly, breathy laughter at their antics. Jongin liked doing these IG Lives, more so than his boyfriend’s videos maybe because he could get everyone’s real reactions and interact with the fans. Or maybe because there was no pressure whenever he was with Baekhyun, when it’s a video he feels the need to be on his best behavior so he doesn’t ruin Baekhyun’s videos. Regardless if Baekhyun reminds him constantly to be his usual self, and that anything he’ll do is absolutely adorable and real. 

“What’s your greatest weakness?” Jongin recited from one of the viewers. “I tend to be an over thinker, but I’m doing better dealing with it now than before. What about you, lovely?” 

Baekhyun hits Jongin’s chest playfully at the endearment, knowing that it makes him flustered. “That I’m uncooperative.”  
“That fans say give them an example.” Jongin pointed at the chat.  
“No.” 

Jongin can’t help but crackle, wrapping his arms around Baekhyun until his boyfriend’s back hits his chest. “10 points for delivery and 10 points for execution! I liked that.” 

Baekhyun holds onto Jongin’s forearms shrieking with laughter at the sudden imbalance, but Jongin was holding them both in place to not topple over onto the floor from the bench-like seating of the gazebo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA: This is fully indulgent, so don't take my lack of characterization, plot etc too seriously. I'm amusing myself here, nothing too serious on the basis of writing and progressing a story.
> 
> PSA: This is fully indulgent, so don't take my lack of characterization, plot etc too seriously. I'm amusing myself here, nothing too serious on the basis of writing and progressing a story.
> 
> PSA: This is fully indulgent, so don't take my lack of characterization, plot etc too seriously. I'm amusing myself here, nothing too serious on the basis of writing and progressing a story.

**Author's Note:**

> If you ever wanna chat, my twitter is:@GlazedDounut72
> 
> ~ ♡ All I ask in return for writing is commenting. That's it ♡ ~
> 
> I'm not asking for a full book report (although that would be MARVELOUS) I'm just asking to be paid with your thoughts, opinions, and feedback.
> 
> 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤.  
> 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤.  
> 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤.  
> 𝐈'𝐦 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬, 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐝𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤.


End file.
